The Role of Animal-Assisted Interventions in Addressing Trauma-Informed Care

Animal-assisted interventions (AAI) is an interdisciplinary term to describe interventions that integrate various species of animals into the care and well- being of human beings. When implemented with the appropriate education and training, AAI offers several key benefits that are central to trauma-informed care, including: reducing treatment anxiety, facilitating development of strong therapeutic rapport, decreasing feelings of detachment, and offering a non-verbal avenue for expression and processing. In this manuscript, the authors propose two ways AAI can add to trauma-informed care: animal-assisted therapy in counseling (AAT-C) and animal-assisted crisis response (AACR). Authors will discuss relevant literature, provide examples of appropriate interventions and techniques, and offer resources for further information.